A Sick Loss

I think I figured out what the difference is with Dustin Brown this year. Sure, he's scored 2 goals on this road trip... but he seems like a different player out there on the ice. Last season, when Dustin played the left wing, he could (and did!) pull a move like this each night.

Wow... life before HD video grabs.
And yes, that is injured defenseman Jack Johnson with the insightful analysis.

This season... on the right wing... he physically can't make that move. But it's not the move itself, it's the Dustin Brown who keeps his legs moving forward during this move and would usually draw a penalty. Where has that Dustin Brown gone? Oh and Jon Quick... in the midst of a 2 game losing streak on a long road trip... it may not be the best time to stop with your pre-game tradition.

Oh! So this is what an opening face-off looks like. Cool.

Kings 1, Blue Jackets 4

One aspect of the Los Angeles Kings game that I'm not digging right now is the placement of forward Justin Williams on point during the powerplay. I haven't really seen what the upside of this move is quite yet. I don't mind Jarett Stoll at the point on the other powerplay unit (mainly because he has a massive shot) but I'm feeling that after tonights game... the Kings powerplay units are in for a shakeup. In fact, I think this entire team is in for a shakeup from Coach Murray and his staff. With at least 3 sick players in the lineup tonight... it's pretty easy to see why the Kings played so pukey. HEY-OH!

Talk about a flu blug!
Hey Blue Jackets... you may want a mascot that doesn't scare children.

If this bad play continues (and you better believe me, this has been some bad play... one great period does not make a full game) one can only wonder how long before Kings fans start calling for the players heads. Uh-oh... we may be too late.

It was fun while it lasted, Jon Quick.

And I may not be an NHL caliber player... but I'm pretty sure that if I could clearly see the puck in front of me, I wouldn't be raising my arms in celebration of a goal like Antoine Vermette did tonight after Jon Quick made an amazing save.

The puck is clearly in front of him, right under his armpit.

And finally, I saw one of the greatest examples of fan dedication during the game tonight from the Blue Jacket home crowd.

It's not so much that he's really fat and dancing.
It's not so much that he painted a six pack of beer cans on his stomach.
It's not so much the dude taking a camera phone pic of him.
It's that he took the time to write tiny little "Bud Light's" on each of the cans.
That's dedication.

Special thanks to dedicated Royal Half reader, one-time blog contributor and fierce fan of all things cake, Brian, for this link:

Apparently, someone made the saddest LA Kings cake ever. They must have made it to celebrate this 3 game losing streak.